Regulated fuel-heating device.



'1. A. WILLIAMS.

REGULATED FUEL HEATING DEVICE. APPLICATION man JUNE 8. lauj 1,212,595. Patented Jan. 16, 1917,.-

JOSEPH A. WILLIAMS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE K. W. IGNITION" COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND,

OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

REGULATED FUEL-HEATING nnvrcn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. to, 191?.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Regulated Fuel- Heating Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to a fuel heating and heat regulating device for use with internal combustion engines.

It is a well known fact that to obtain coma plete vaporization of gasolene or other fuel used in internal combustion engines a certain amount of heat is required, and the heavier the fuel, the higher, the temperature at which it will be vaporized. It is also well known that the users of internal combustion engines, especially those employed in automobiles have considerable difliculty' during cool weather, not only in starting the engine, but also in maintaining it in continuous successful operation.

The object of the carburetor to a predetermined temperature' which is maintained practically constant, and for automatically controlling the,

' temperature to which the fuel is heated.

The above objects are accomplished by my invention in accordance with which there is arranged at some point in the fuel system the fuel heating and temperature regulating means. The latter may be arranged at difierent points in the system, but preferably between the carburetor and fuel tank, and m the preferred form of my invention, it is provided with a fuel-chamber having an inlet connection with the fuel tank and an outlet connection with the carburetor, a heating chamber at least partially surrounding the fuel chamber and adapted to be connected with the exhaust or water system of the engine, and a temperature regulating device arranged adjacent the fuel chamber and adapted to control the supply of heating medium to said heating chamber.

My invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangemonts of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a, view partly in section of a portion of a y the present invention is to provide means for heating the fuel fed to i 0 extending to the carburetor.

fuel feed system of an internal combustion engine, including the carburetor, the fuel supply tank, and my improved fuel heating and heat regulating device arranged between them; Fig. 2 is a vertical. sectional View through the fuel heating temperature regu lating device, the section being taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, and the lever for actuating the valve which controls the heating medium being omitted; Fig. 3 is atop plan view of the same with portions broken away.

Referring now to the figures of the drawings,A represents a carburetor for an internal combustion engine, and B the fuel tank from which gasoleno or other fuel is supplied to the carburetor, both the carburetor and tank being ofthe usual or of any suitable construction."

' In accordance with the present and preferred form of my invention, I arrange be tween the carburetor and tank, a fuel heating and temperature regulating device C, the purpose of which is first to heat the fuel to the desired temperature so that it will readily vaporize, regardless of the time of year that the engine is used, and regardless of how cold the gasolene and the surrounding atmosphere may be, and second, it is the purpose of the device of my invention to govern thohoating to'which the fuel may be submitted so that the fuel will at all times, and regardless of its thermic condition be brought to the desired temperature. This device C is provided with several chambers including a gasolone chamber 0 formed within a bowl-shaped casting '0. This casting has near the top a pair of oppositely disposed bosses 0 having inlet and outlet openings 0 communicating with the fuel chamber 0. These openings are threaded to receive respectively an inlet or supply pipe 0 connected to the tank B and an outlet pipe As the inlet and outlet openings are near the top of the chamber a, the latter will be practically filled at all times with the liquid fuel.

Surrounding the rounded or bowl-shaped portion of the chamber 0 is a heating chamber 01 which is formed between the homi spherical wall of the chamber a and a hemispherical shell d. An opening d in the upper part of the casting of and communicating with the chamber 01 has a connection for a supply pipe d for a heating medium. This loo pipe 0Z may be connected to either the exhaust or to the water system of the engine. In either case, it will-convey a heating medium to the-chamber a and inasmuch as the heating medium surrounds the greater portion of the chamber 0, it will heat the fuel to proper temperature for vaporization. The chamber d has an out-let pipe indicated at cl. In this case the upper edge of the hemispherical shell 0? engages a suitable flange on the casting a and the shell is held in position by a drain cock (5 which is screwed onto a tubular member extending downwardly from the chamber 0 through the chamber d.

At the top of the chamber 0 is a heat regulating or thermostatic chamber 6 formed in part by a dish-shaped plate 6', the concave portion of which extends downward into or in engagement with the fuel in the upper part of the chamber 0 and having at its periphery a thickened portion which is seated upon and is secured to ashoulder a at the upper part of the casting c. This chamber e is closed by an upper diaphragm 6 formed of a flexible member such as a rather thin sheet metal plate corrugated or otherwise provided with means for giving it flexibility. The diaphragm c is secured in place by screws and by soldering if desired, so

that the chamber 6 will be hermeticallysealed. Secured to the diaphragm e and extending upwardly therefrom through a cover plate 6 for the device C is a post or stud e which is pivotally connected to a lever e arranged outside and above the cover plate e and pivotally connected at one end to lugs e on said cover plate. The lever e is connected at its opposite end to an arm 6 connected to a butterfly valve 6 which is arranged in the connection 01 which supplies the heating medium to the chamber d. The

chamber 6 is adapted to contain a liquid which is more volatile than the fuel in the chamber 0. The liquid in this chamber may consist for example of a hydro-carbon of less volatility than the fuel, so that it will volatilize more quickly and ata lower temperature than the fuel. This mechanism just described is so constructed that when the temperature of the liquid in the chamber e rises, a portion of the liquid will be volatilized so as to increase the pressure acting on the diaphragm c and to lift the same and actuate the-lever e of the butterfly a so as to close or partially close the latter to lessen or temporarily shut-0d the supply of heating medium through the heating chamber at increase the supply of the heating medium and cause a greater heating efiect. Thus, it Wlll be seen that the liquid fuel in the chamber c is heated to the predetermined temper- .vice is between the tank and carbureter for iniaeee ature by the heating medium, either hot water or exhaust gases which are supplied to the chamber 0Z around the wall of the fuel chamber 0. Itwill beseen also that the fuel in the chamber 0 heats the liquid in the regulating chamber 6 preferably by conduction, inasmuch as the lower wall 6 of the chamber is in direct contact with thefuel in the chamber 0. By this mechanism the fuel will be heated to practically uniform or constant m temperature, regardless of the"temperature of the fuel in the tank, and regardless of the temperature of the atmosphere As the temperature of the fuel falls, or during cold weather, the fuel must be heated a greater amount than in hot weather, and vice versa for warm weather.

'However, through the regulating mechanism, a greater or less volume of the heating medium is passed through the chamber 03 per unit of time so as to accomplish this result.

ll do not desire to be confined to the exact details nor to the exact arrangement of parts shown, for many modifications may be made o0 without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. For example, ll do not desire to be confined to the arrangement whereby the heating and heat regulating dealthough the present arrangement is preferable, ll would consider it within the generic idea of my invention to embody the device in the carbureter itself.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a fuel heating and heat regulating device for a fuel feed system of aninternal combustion engine, abowl-shaped fuel chamber having inlet and outlet connections near the top thereof, a heating chamber arranged about the fuel chamber and provided with inlet and outlet connections for a heating medium, a hermetically sealed heat reg ulating chamber seated in the top of the 'fuel chamber and provided at the top with a flexible diaphragm, and mechanism conthe supply of heating medium to the heating chamber. lie

2. In a fuel heating and heat regulating device for an internal combustion engine, a bowl-shaped fuel chamber having inlet outlet connections, a heating chamber rounding the side and bottom of the 1 chamber having inlet and outlet conne for a heating medium, a third chambe metically sealed and provided at the with a flexible diaphra, said third ch her being seated in the fuel chamber su its lower wall will be in engagement with the fuel in said fuel chamber, a valve the connection leading to the heating chain.

her, and mechanism connected to said phragm for actuating the valve,

3. In a fuel heating and heat regulating device for a fuel feed system of an Internal combustion engine, a'bowl-shapedi'uel chamber having-inlet and outletfconnections, a heating chamber arranged about a portion of the fuel chamber, said heating chamber being provided with inlet and outlet connections, a sealed chambered member forming a closure for the said fuel chamber, a volatile fluid within said chambered member, a flexible diaphragm forming a part of said chambered member, and mechanism connected with Said diaphragm for controlling the supply of heating medium to the heating chamber.

4. In a fuel heating and heat regulating outlet-connections, a heating chamber surrounding a portion of said fuel chamber, 1

said' heatingcbamber having inlet and outlet connections for aheating. medium, a'sealed chambered member forming a closure for the said fuel chamber, a volatile fluid within said. chambered member, a flexible diaphragm forming a part of said chambered member, a valve in the connection leading to the heating chamber, and lever mechanism connected with the said diaphragm for actuating the valve.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH A. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

H. R. SULLIVAN, A. F. Kwis. 

